


The Musical Box

by Kittenmommy



Series: Duke's Travels: The Musical Box and Other Stories [1]
Category: British Singers RPF, Doctor Who (1963), Genesis (Band), Real Person Fiction
Genre: Challenge Response, Costumes, Crack, Gen, Mild Language, Prog Rock, RPF, Rock Stars, Time Travel, What Was I Thinking?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-17
Updated: 2012-12-17
Packaged: 2017-11-21 09:56:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/596383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittenmommy/pseuds/Kittenmommy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor headed back to his TARDIS, his ears still ringing from the music.</p><p>Suddenly, a rather large man was blocking his way. "I'm sorry, sir - you can't go back there," the bouncer told him, not sounding at all sorry.</p><p>"Why not?" the Doctor wondered.</p><p>The bouncer folded his huge arms across his burly chest. "Band personnel only."</p><p>"Oh!" the Doctor said, his large blue eyes widening comically. "I don't suppose you'd believe me if I told you I've left my time machine back there, would you?" he asked hopefully.</p><p>The bouncer shrugged. "I'd believe nearly anything with <i>that</i> lot," he snorted, indicating the band with a vague gesture. "They're a bit strange if you ask me."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Musical Box

**Author's Note:**

> [_Doctor Who_](http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/) belongs to [the BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/). The members of [Genesis](http://www.genesis-music.com/) are real people and (obviously) belong to themselves - please don't sue me guys! (um, especially [Tony](http://www.tonybanksmusic.co.uk)!) The main song featured in this fic is called - surprise! - "[The Musical Box](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFBY4dvoISc)".
> 
> And I'm not making any money from this!
> 
> * * *
> 
> AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fic was written in response to a challenge on a private _Doctor Who_ mailing list years and years ago (in 2004, to be exact).
> 
> The challenge was to have the Doctor meet a band/famous musician, and then have him encounter the band/musician in a different incarnation. The musician/one of the band members somehow recognizes the Doctor right away, despite the fact that he's now wearing a new face/body.
> 
> I know the costumes mentioned in this fic aren't all historically accurate, so please don't flame me. [Peter Gabriel](http://www.petergabriel.com/) had stopped wearing [the fox head and the red dress](http://www.multinet.no/~jonarne/Hjemmesia/Favorittartister/peter_gabriel/Genesis_PeterGabriel_Foxtrot_Paris_Januar1973.jpg) by the time they played the Rainbow in 1973 (I spent _all afternoon_ looking this stuff up, so _believe me_ , I _know_!) but I really wanted him in that get-up for this fic because I really like the mental picture! Hey, it's not _Doctor Who_ if it doesn't play fast and loose with historical accuracy, right?
> 
> Speaking of _Doctor Who_ , the first part of this "adventure" takes place between [_The Deadly Assassin_](http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/deadlyassassin/) and [_The Face of Evil_](http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/faceofevil/), and the second part takes place between [_Planet of Fire_](http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/planetoffire/) and [_The Caves of Androzani_](http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/episodeguide/cavesandrozani/).
> 
> Oh, and a lot of the stuff that [Phil Collins](http://www.philcollins.co.uk/) says in the second part is directly ripped off from the _[Invisible Touch Tour Documentary](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rporQN-QTgk)_.
> 
> Special thanks to Buck_Dharma and Swansea_Jack of the (sadly now defunct) Official Genesis Forum for info on the Rainbow Theatre... and an _extra special_ (ha!) thanks to Skyblaze for issuing the challenge that would not let me sleep that night so many years ago - I am _still_ so going to _get you_!! :p

1973  
Rainbow Theatre  
London, England

[The Doctor](http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/index_fourth.shtml) fidgeted in his seat; this certainly didn't look like the sort of crowd that the London Symphony Orchestra usually attracted. There were an awful lot of young people there, and none of them were dressed for attending the Symphony.

Then again, this was 1973, and human culture was going through a period of "letting it all hang out", as they liked to say. Why, hardly anyone spared a second glance at his own clothing - the long coat, the silly scarf, and the floppy hat jammed down onto his curly hair didn't even raise an eyebrow.

Not that he was uncomfortable with drawing attention to himself - why, he actually _welcomed_ it, whereas most Time Lords -

"Time Lords!" he suddenly exclaimed, sitting bolt upright in his seat. A long-haired girl sitting next to him gave him a look, and then went back to talking to her companion, a young man with equally lengthy tresses. The Doctor glanced around. "There's another Time Lord here, I can feel it!" This time, the girl completely ignored him.

"Hey, d'you mind?" the young man sitting next to him asked, sounding irritated. He gestured at the house lights, which were dimming. "Show's about to start!"

"Listen, you don't understand," the Doctor said earnestly. "There shouldn't be another Time Lord here in this - "

"Shhh!" the girl on his other side scolded, and the lights went down completely.

From behind the curtain an organ began to play, its chords building up to a crescendo of drums and bass. The curtain was whisked opened and an alien stood there, bathed in black light.

"[Watcher of the skies, watcher of all](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bETFh4eRdM8)!" the alien belted out, and the Doctor stared at the apparition before him, transfixed.

With the long cape around its shoulders and the bat wings attached to the sides of its head, the alien looked remarkably like a Time Lord in full ceremonial regalia. Of course, the lighting was dim and Time Lord ceremonial costume didn't include day-glo paint around the wearer's eyes. "His is a world alone, no world is his own!" the alien sang, his eyes glowing eerily under the black light.

"I don't think this is the Symphony," the Doctor muttered to himself, and settled back in his seat to watch the show.

It turned out to be quite an amazing spectacle, with the singer going through an extraordinary number of costume changes, one of the most bizarre involving a fox head mask and a long red dress. He became in turn [a flower](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCPRtKx9oH8), a [robed creature with an odd box on its head](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0qzqOhL55MM/SLWOZw_TqZI/AAAAAAAAAak/k3QmVvmxTj4/s400/Peter+Gabriel.jpg), and a [rather disturbing old man](http://www.genesis-movement.co.uk/photos_memorabilia/buffalo74-2/_Genesis%201974%20Dec%2018%20Century%20Theatre%2C%20Buffalo%2C%20NY%20-%20Peter%20Gabriel.jpg).

"Why don't you touch me, touch me!" the singer wailed. "Why don't you touch me, touch me!" A rubber mask of an old man's face covered his head, and this was lit from below with a yellow light, giving the whole scene an unreal quality. "Touch me now now now now nowwwww!"

 _Oh, I'd_ love _to touch you_ , the Doctor thought to himself. _See what your body temperature's like..._ He could not shake the feeling that there was another Time Lord here, quite close by - and this singer certainly appeared odd enough by human standards to be from another planet.

"Now now now now nowwwww!" he pleaded.

The Doctor winced, sticking his fingers in his ears and making a mental note not to sit in the very front row should he ever find himself at another rock concert.

He spent the rest of the concert with his fingers jammed in his ears.

* * *

The Doctor headed back to his TARDIS, his ears still ringing from the music.

Suddenly, a rather large man was blocking his way. "I'm sorry, sir - you can't go back there," the bouncer told him, not sounding at all sorry.

"Why not?" the Doctor wondered.

The bouncer folded his huge arms across his burly chest. "Band personnel only."

"Oh!" the Doctor said, his large blue eyes widening comically. "I don't suppose you'd believe me if I told you I've left my time machine back there, would you?" he asked hopefully.

The bouncer shrugged. "I'd believe nearly anything with _that_ lot," he snorted, indicating the band with a vague gesture. "They're a bit strange if you ask me."

A rather short young man with long brown hair and a thick beard came out of the backstage area and approached the bouncer.

"Listen," he said in a thick Cockney accent. "Someone's put a police box in the hallway outside Pete's dressing room!"

The Doctor beamed brilliantly at the new arrival, showing an impossible number of teeth. "That's mine!" he said happily. The Cockney stared at the Doctor for a long moment, taking in the coat, the scarf, and the hat.

"It's yours?" he finally asked dubiously.

"Oh yes!" the Doctor agreed.

"And who're you?"

"Why, I'm the Doctor!" the Time Lord exclaimed, as though the answer were obvious. He fished around in the pocket of his coat and produced a crumpled paper sack, which he offered to the Cockney. "Would you like a jelly baby?"

"Why did you put a police box outside Pete's dressing room?" the smaller man asked as though it were the most reasonable question in the world. He reached for a candy.

"Welllllll," the Doctor drawled confidingly, "the navigational systems are a bit dodgy and I usually just take what I can get, if you know what I mean."

"No, I don't." He reached for another candy. "I'm Phil Collins," he said, as though just remembering good manners. "I play drums." He popped a red jelly baby into his mouth and grinned.

"Yes, I saw." The Doctor offered the drummer another megawatt smile. "You were very loud," he said with enormous sincerity.

"Thanks," Phil said, clearly unsure whether or not he was being complimented. He reached for another candy. "You'd better come get your box. Tony's having a fit over it."

The Doctor's eyebrows went up. "Oh?"

Phil sighed. "Our keyboard player."

"Oh."

"Come on." The Doctor eyed the bouncer, who shrugged and waved him through.

"This isn't even the strangest thing that's happened today," the bouncer said to no one in particular.

* * *

They heard him before they saw him. "We just can't have things like this blocking the hallway!" the irate voice said.

"Oh boy, 'ere we go!" Phil said under his breath. They turned the corner, where three young men stood around the Doctor's police box.

"Tony, calm down," the one with long blond hair and sleepy blue eyes was saying reasonably. "It's only a police box!"

"But look, Mike, it's right in the middle - "

"Maybe Pete had it brought in," the other man offered. He shrugged elaborately and peered at Tony through his thick glasses. "Maybe it's a prop."

"It's not a prop!" the Doctor cut in, and everyone turned to stare at him.

"This is the Doctor," Phil said. "Mike Rutherford and Steve Hackett," he introduced, gesturing at the blond man and the dark-haired man with the handlebar moustache and glasses. "Our guitarists." He glanced at the irritated young man with the long wavy brown hair who was standing with his arms folded, glaring at the Doctor. "And this is Tony Banks."

"Hello, Tony," the Doctor said, grinning hugely and extending his hand. Tony regarded the Doctor steadily for a moment, and then turned away and walked into a room across the hall from the police box, slamming the door. "How rude!" the Doctor goggled.

"Don't mind him," Steve said, exchanging an eye-rolling glance with Mike. "He's in one of his _moods_."

"Hmmm," the Doctor said. He fished his TARDIS key out of his pocket. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I really must - "

"Is this yours?" a new voice asked quietly.

It was the singer, the alien... only now he looked like the other young men in the band, dressed casually in jeans and a shirt, his long black hair hanging down around his shoulders and his face showing no trace of the theatrical make-up he'd worn on stage.

"It's 'is," Phil confirmed. "This is Peter Gabriel. Pete, this is the Doctor."

"I'm very pleased to meet you!" the Doctor said, offering his hand. Much to the Time Lord's surprise, the singer's hand was as warm as any other human's.

"Well," the Doctor said, reaching for his key again. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I really must be off."

"Off where?" Pete asked curiously.

"Oh, here and there," the Doctor replied vaguely, unlocking the police box's door. "Round and about. I did enjoy the show," he assured them as he disappeared inside.

After a moment, he stuck his head back out and grinned at the drummer. "Work on that singing, Phil!" he advised cheerfully, and withdrew. This time the doors shut and a moment later the blue box faded out of existence accompanied by the uncanny sound of time and space being ripped apart.

"Bloody hell!" Phil exclaimed.

They were all silent for a moment.

"At least the police box has gone," Mike finally said.

"Tony will be pleased!" Steve added, and they all laughed.

* * *

1992  
Madison Square Garden  
New York City

"[Why don't you touch me, touch me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJO1j6WLXNc)!" Phil Collins sang, leaning forward so that his face was bathed in yellow light. "Why don't you touch me, touch me! Touch me now now now now nowwwww!"

[The Doctor](http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/index_fifth.shtml) stood in an upper tier, looking down on the band. Peri had asked to visit a cousin in Manhattan, and so he had dropped her off. Wandering through the city, he'd come across a billboard advertising Genesis at Madison Square Garden, and he hadn't been able to resist taking a peek at what they'd become.

"Now now now now nowwwww!"

Recalling that long ago concert in London, he closed his eyes and reached out with his mind. Surprisingly, there were several Time Lords in attendance at this one.

 _How curious,_ he mused. _I wouldn't have thought that this sort of music would be popular back home!_

* * *

The Doctor stood in a corridor leading from the stage to the dressing rooms. Equipment and crates were stacked everywhere, along with [yellow and orange equipment cases](http://www.genesis-movement.co.uk/g99/images/cases1.jpg) stenciled with the Genesis logo in black and smaller lettering indicating the contents of each.

Phil and Mike walked towards the backstage area together.

"I got one of these tonight," Phil was saying, holding up a lacy black slip. "And two more last night, and a shoe. And I got two extra bras tonight. So when I retire, it's the lingerie shop for me."

Mike laughed.

"Hello, Phil... Mike," the Doctor said. "You remember me - I'm the Doctor... the one with the police box outside Pete's dressing room!" The two musicians exchanged dubious looks.

"At the Rainbow?" Phil asked, trying to place the memory.

"Yes, exactly!"

"You don't look _anything_ like him!" Mike finally said, eyeing the blond young man in the cricketing outfit.

"Well, I can explain that - " the Doctor began.

"Phil!" someone called from up the hall. "Chester wants to talk to you!"

"Sorry, man," Phil apologized. "I've got to go. Here," he said as an afterthought, handing his lacy black slip to the Doctor. "Cheers."

The Doctor stood there, watching them continue up the hallway.

 _Glad to see they've done so well,_ he thought to himself. He moved to return to his TARDIS, which he'd materialized in an alcove off to the side.

Someone else was approaching from the stage area. The Doctor squinted, recognized him as the man who'd been so irritated to find the police box blocking the hallway, and sighed.

Tony paused in his progress up the hall for only a moment to lock eyes with the Doctor. His eyebrows went up.

"Doctor," he murmured, and continued on his way.

The Time Lord's jaw dropped and he turned to watch the other man bend over one of the cases, [an orange one labeled _Tony Banks, Keyboards_](http://www.genesis-movement.co.uk/g99/images/cases2.jpg). He fished a key from his pocket and unlocked it.

"Intriguing," the Doctor murmured to himself, shaking his head and heading for the alcove and his TARDIS.

The distinctive sound of a dematerializing TARDIS filled the narrow corridor, and the Doctor spun around to see that the orange equipment case was gone.

He blinked in surprise, and then grinned hugely. "The musical box, indeed!"

FINIS.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was originally posted on [A Teaspoon And An Open Mind: A _Doctor Who_ Fanfiction Archive](http://www.whofic.com) back in 2004. I've slightly updated it for AO3 - lucky you! ;)


End file.
